


The Wynonna Earp Job

by longlost10



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, alternative universe, spy AU, will make an appearance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-03-28 01:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13893525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/longlost10/pseuds/longlost10
Summary: Doc Holliday wasn't expecting Bobo Del Rey to walk into his bar. Hecertainlywasn't expecting Bobo to ask him for a favor. He'll need to suck up his pride to help an old friend with the help of his new family and their... rather particular skill set.ALSO KNOWN AS:The Leverage-inspired Spy-themed AU no one asked for with the worst summary to ever exist.(No, you don't have to know Leverage to read!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm using a particular Leverage episode as a jumping point, but don't be surprised when the characters inevitably go their own way. I have no intention to stay 'on script', I just couldn't get the thought of these characters in the roles out of my head and this was a brilliant way to get into the universe.

It was a slow afternoon at Shorty’s. Not even the setting sun brought in more customers to the dusty bar. There were a few people by the pool table and a handful scattered amongst all the tables in the dining area, but the bar remained thankfully empty. That was fine as far as Doc was concerned- he was understaffed and didn’t exactly want to run around all night. His mood shifted slightly as the double doors opened, letting the rays of the setting sun spread out on the floorboard.

“Doc Holliday- just the person I was looking for!” Sheriff Nedley’s voice was loud and joyous, as it always tended to be in Shorty’s, but Doc’s eyes immediately shifted to the man who looked like he was being brought in by the ear. Xavier Dolls never walked into Shorty’s under his own free will; whenever the two met up it tended to be at the police station.

He couldn’t help but suppress a chuckle as he addressed the pair. “Always a pleasure to see you, Sheriff. What brings you to this side of town?”

As if Purgatory was a big enough town to have more than one side.

Nedley slapped Dolls’ shoulder and steered the man closer to the bar. “Xavier here spends so much damn time locked up in the station, I figured it was time for him to meet the folks he’s protecting. Two beers would do just fine for the occasion.” With a nod, Doc found two clean beer glasses and brought them under the tap. Once they were filled with a respectable layer of head, Doc returned to the spot at the bar where Nedley and Dolls seemed to set up shop (if the removal of Nedley’s hat was any indication).

Doc placed the glasses in front of the two men and smiled at the slightly disgruntled cop. “Here’s your liquid courage, Dolls.” There was a few seconds pause before the man caved and reached forward to sip at the beer, muttering a small “Thanks” in return.

“Time to sink or swim, son.” Nedley took his glass and walked away from the bar, choosing to sit down at a table occupied by three other middle aged men.

When Dolls remained silent, Doc smirked slightly before grabbing a rag and mindlessly wiping the wooden surface before him. Dolls was good company in the way that the two of them could exist in total silence without ripping each others’ head off or feeling the need to fill the lull. They weren’t great friends, but they tolerated each other as well as any two hot-tempered men could. “Have you heard from Wynonna lately?” 

Doll’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. “She’s back in town? I hadn’t heard such a thing.” As the local bar owner, Doc was prevvy to his fair share of rumor and gossip. Half of the time he spent more energy shifting the truth from the drunken rambles than he did actually trying to acquire information. Funny how alcohol seemed to skew a thought or misconstrue a rumor. “Last I heard, she was on a job across the border.” 

“I could just be hopeful.” Dolls sighed, looking into his glass before stretching out his back and scanning the bar patrons for anything interesting. “I thought I heard Haught tell Nedley something that Waverly said when I was passing the bullpen earlier… Earp could be in China for all I know.”

Doc shrugged slightly before leaning against the bar. “You know Wynonna,” the sound of the front doors opening caused him to stand back upright, “she comes around when she wants to be around and not a moment sooner… and then she’s usually halfway out the door again.” A newcomer approached the bar and sat a few stools away from Dolls. “What can I get y- Bobo?” Doc stared at the man sitting at his bar, mouth nearly on the ground. 

Years ago- longer than anyone cared to remember- Bobo and Doc were friends. They ran in the same circles, frequented the same clubs, did the same business. Eventually they were partners in a business, Bobo doing the paperwork and Doc up and front with the people. And they were good at it. Doc’s charm won over clients they never expected and Bobo could have been an accountant in a different life.

But it didn’t last.

Bobo found some loopholes, pulled some strings and then suddenly Bobo was rocketing to the top of the list of the richest men in the country while Doc barely scavenged enough to buy out Shorty’s and keep it running. Doc had sworn he’d never see Bobo Del Rey again for as long as either shall live, essentially out of spite. 

Clearly Bobo didn’t feel the same way as he was sitting at Shorty’s bar wearing his trademark comically large fur coat, looking rather depressed. He didn’t even seem to mind that Doc was looking at him as if he had five heads. “You gotta help me, Doc.” Bobo’s normally calm voice shook as he looked up to meet the bartender’s eyes, looking utterly pathetic. “I lost her. She’s gone. Poof.” He opened his hand as if to demonstrate something vanishing in thin air. “I had her. She was mine and I was her and now she’s _gone_.” He punctuated his sentence with an open-handed slap on the bar. The small basket of stale peanuts that sat jumped slightly, spilling one or two half shells onto the floor. His head fell onto the bar while his muffled voice made its way to the surface. “I don’t know how I can keep going without her.”

Eyes wide, Doc looked over at Dolls, wanting an answer but knowing that the other man was probably even more lost than he was. “What are you talkin’ about, Bobo? Who’s gone?”

“Eve!” The man picked his head up and looked over at the two of them. “My wife!”

This time it was Doll’s turn to chime in. “Your… wife? How’d you lose your wife?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be here, would I?” Doc shot Bobo a warning look. Thankfully, the man looked sheepish before continuing. “Five days ago, Eve disappeared. No notes, no ransom. Nothing. The best thing that’s ever happened to me. Just… poof.” He gestured once more with his hand, this time letting it fall sadly to the bartop.

Dolls seemed to perk up at this information, his cop senses on high alert. “Any evidence of foul play?”

“Nothing. I know how it looks, Doc, I do.” Bobo said, trying to sound earnest. “A guy like me. Lots of money to spend with nothing to spend it on. A girl comes in, robs him blind. But people like you look at me and say I deserve it-”

“I did no such thing-”

“Hush, Doc, you haven’t talked to me in years and we both know why.” Doc let the comment sit, the truth of it undeniable. “But Eve… she’s… she’s amazing. I used to fool around all the time but, she changed me, I swear.”

Doc crossed his arms and thought for a moment, trying to assess the situation. “Now, don’t take this the wrong way Bobo… but could it be your charming personality couldn’t keep her around?” Dolls ducked his head to hide a smile, trying to subtly bring his glass closer to obscure his grin even more.

Bobo’s eyes narrowed but let the comment slide. “No, we were in love. We promised each other _everything_... I’m not a hormonal high schooler, Henry.”

“What do you want me to do, Robert?” Doc spoke the man’s given name with the same hint of malice his own was spoken.

“I want you to find her!” Bobo said, his voice only barely maintaining a volume acceptable for inside a building. “I know you can do it. I’ll pay you handsomely for it. You and your associates.” Bobo glanced over at Dolls, giving him a knowing look. “However rude they may be.”

Doc sighed softly and ran over the situation in his head. One one hand, he didn’t want anything to do with a Mr. Bobo Del Rey. On the other hand, somewhere deep inside him, he always liked helping someone out when he could. And it should be easy, right? Ask Nicole to… do whatever she does on the computer to get answers, maybe track down Eve and get an explanation, or find out what happened to her if she was well and truly gone. “You understand there’s a possibility Miss Eve doesn’t want to see you anymore, right?”

Bobo’s face fell ever so slightly before he nodded. “And… and if that’s true that’s fine. Break my heart. But fine. I just...” He waved his hand whisfully, unable to find the words to do his feelings justice.

“You just want to know.” Dolls offered.

“Exactly.” Bobo reached forward and took a swig of Doll’s beer. “You get me an explanation, I give you a check. Simple as that.” He placed the now mostly-empty glass in front of Doc and stood up, looking a bit cheerier. “You know how to reach me when you’re done.” With that, Bobo stood up and left the bar as quietly as he’d entered.

“When Nedley said he wanted me to interact with the locals, I didn’t expect to find a job.” Dolls laughed hollowly, tracing his finger around the top of his glass.

Doc shrugged slightly before swiping the glass away, putting it into the tub of dirty dishes under the bartop. “You didn’t. I did. Not to mention there’s no job.” He said with an air of nonchalance. “The girl probably needed some money, married him, played him for a while and then ran off with a few thousand that he didn’t know he was keeping around.” Doc went over to the register and printed out a receipt before placing it in front of his friend. “Smart girl. She’s probably halfway to the caribbean with the money in some Swiss bank accounts by now. Set for life.”

“You don’t know that.” Dolls said, putting some cash down on the table for the drink he barely got to enjoy. “You’re old fashioned. You know that real love can come out of unlikely circumstances. There could be the chance that this Eve and Bobo had something special. I think you owe it to him to find out what happend. And if she’s in Jamaica sipping a rum and coke on the beach? Well you get that satisfaction when you take that check of his.”

Dolls could tell he won the argument- Doc’s lips were pursed into a thin line and his eyes showed that he was struggling to come up with a counter-argument. “Fine.” He finally caved, nodding in agreement. “But you need to get ‘hold of Wynonna. Dear Waverly could probably use some backup- especially if this Eve’s as cold as I think she is. If you tell Nicole to get started on that amazing research of hers, we can all gather at the station later and figure out the plan.”

Just because the bar was a bit slow didn’t mean he didn’t have work to do. Dolls grinned and stood up, pushing in his stool (he was the only customer who did so, making the event an unusual and noticeable occurrence). “You love working with the gang, Doc. Admit it.”

“I’ll see you in a few hours, Dolls, after my shift is done.” Doc said, evading the question. 

A minute or so after the doors shut behind Dolls, Sheriff Nedley walked back over to the bar, eyeing the money for the half-finished beer. “Please tell me he spoke to someone other than you,” the man sighed.

“Yes’sir.” Doc said, a hint of pride in his voice. “Even got a tip for an old cold case. Took right off to follow up on it.”

This seemed to please the older man, “Good… good. I swear that boy only thinks about work.”

Doc took the bills off the bar and counted it quickly before moving over to the till. “No kidding. Now if you’ll excuse me for just a moment,” he said dropping the bills inside for safekeeping, “I need to call one of our bartenders and see if she could cover my shift tonight...”

* * *

“Bobo Del Rey. Birth name: Robert Svane. His family’s been in Purgatory for generations, basically always staying on top of whatever was the town’s highest export. Owning the coal mines back in the day to keeping up with the tech boom in the 21st century. They now own Revenant Manufacturers- they’re a leading supplier of graphic chips put into nearly every cell phone in the world. He makes more money per hour than most people in small towns across the country earn annually.” Nicole Haught slowly walked around the circular table inside the police station, summarizing the information she had previously compiled and put in the rather extensive packets in front of each seat. “Eve, on the other hand, doesn’t have too much of a digital footprint. What I can gather, she’s the daughter… or cousin, not quite sure, of someone of high political standing. Daddy’s little girl, always got what she wanted.

“They met at a charity auction on some small island off the coast of some country… blah blah blah. Very beautiful. Three months later they’re hitched, another month after that Eve wires 30 million out of Bobo’s bank account and disappears without a trace. That was about a week ago. Police aren’t pursuing the case, claiming that Eve left of her own accord and, as an adult, has that liberty.” It seemed pretty cut and dry; if Bobo hadn’t come to Doc, it was highly probable no one would follow up and try to find the ‘missing’ woman. Nicole came to a stop behind an empty chair and turned to face the table. “No one’s heard of her since and the cash hasn’t shown up in any of my scans.”

Waverly let out a small coo, looking at the picture of Eve that Nicole had put in the packet. “Aww. She’s adorable. How could she fall for someone like Bobo?” She asked, picking up the headshot of Bobo and holding the two pictures next to each other. 

“Because she didn’t.” Doc muttered, his packet unopened on the table. “She played him like a fiddle then skipped town.”

The two walked in seemingly the same social circles- why would Eve _need_ to steal from Bobo? Dolls voiced his concerned, “There’s also the chance that Eve had a past, some Daddy issues, I don’t know, but it could lead for her to want to be with someone like Bobo. It could be true love here.”

“Bullshit. True love doesn’t exist.” The voice caught them all by surprise, having thought they locked the door. Wynonna strode into the room, the confidence oozing out of her leather jacket as she took an empty chair, turned it around and sat down.

Dolls looked between the door and the woman who just walked in multiple times, his mouth open. “How’d you-? I locked the door! Twice!” In response, Wynonna reached into her pocket and tossed him a small leather pouch. He unzipped it to reveal a set of lock picks, earning an exasperated sigh.

Without another word, Wynonna reached forward and glanced through her packet of information. “The account Eve wired the money to was closed four days ago, Waves.”

“Fine! She’s a grifter.” Waverly muttered, clearly unhappy with the uncovered truth. “Shame on me for trying to find some romance in this crazy world...”

Nicole walked around Wynonna to put her arm on Waverly’s shoulder, leaning close so her lips barely touched the smaller girl’s ear. “You want some more romance, babe?” The entire table let out a collective groan, even Waverly, as Nicole pulled back, mocking offense. “Fine. Let’s run with the assumption she’s running something like the sweetheart scam. That takes months to play out for even the most experienced grifter.”

“I ran it once in only 7 months.” Waverly piped up, “there’s no way she’s working alone. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a trail of broken hearts littered wherever Eve goes. Are there any records of similar disappearances?”

“Not a definitive pattern, but there’s signs.” Nicole admitted, walking to the last empty seat and sitting down, pulling a laptop up from under the table. The group waited, listening only to the sound of the redhead’s fingers rapidly moving across the keyboard. After a moment, she turned around the computer to show a map with numerous red dots. “After looking through the reports, these are the locations of suspicious, possibly related, disappearances.”

Wynonna’s face paled slightly. “That’s.. A lot of missing people.”

“And these are just the ones who submitted a report into the system.” Dolls said gravely.

Doc made a noncommittal noise, pointing at the packet he finally got around to looking through. “You mention right here that a common theme are those charity actions… Eve- or whoever Eve works for- might be wrapped up in them.” He looked up and surveyed the faces around him. “Worth investigating.”

Without warning, Dolls reached across the table and took the laptop away from Nicole (despite a loud “Hey!” in protest) before typing in his own series of commands. “It says here that there’s another charity auction coming up off the coast of Florida hosted by the same group. This weekend.” He fell quiet for a moment, glancing at each person in turn. “Ok here’s the plan. Nicole will go ahead and add Waverly and I to the list of people being auctioned off. Wynonna, you’re gonna be in the crowd looking for any sign of Eve.”

“She’s an expert grifter, or damn close to.” Waverly said. “It’s only been a few weeks but she could have another hair color, eye color, body shape… she could look completely different by now. No offense to Wynonna, but if she’s as good as I think she is, just taking a good look at her won’t cut it.”

Nicole swiftly stretched across the table and took the laptop back, giving Dolls a nasty look. “Not a problem. I’ve got some facial recognition software I could utilize into something Wynonna could use. Give me a day and I’ll put it right on her cell phone.”

“You mean there’s an app for that?” Wynonna asked, eyes wide.

“There will be in a few hours.”

“Doc, you and Nicole will be surveying the area. If she’s working with someone, she wouldn’t be alone. Not to mention if Waverly or I don’t sell well, you can be some competition for whoever’s interested. We don’t want to bring attention to ourselves by failing to raise money.”

The older man nodded, putting his hat on his head before gathering his packet and standing up. “Well if you folks don’t mind, I left Gus at the bar on short notice and I do hate to be on her bad side so I shall be off. Ms. Haught, I suspect you’ll let us know when our flight out is?” When the redhead nodded, Doc touched his hat in respect before exiting the room.

As the others started to pack up, Waverly noticed Nicole’s eyes furrow with a hint of worry causing her own stomach to twist. “What’s wrong?” She asked, touching her arm slightly as Dolls and Wynonna played ‘keep away’ with the woman’s lock picking set.

“Nothing. The feminist in me is a bit annoyed at the idea of a bunch of overweight, uptight men betting on the opportunity to have a date with my girlfriend.” Nicole admitted sheepishly.

There was a moment of silence as Waverly processed her partner’s worries. “Babe, it’s the job… you know this.” The taller woman gave a non committal shoulder shrug. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you listen in on the date _and_ save a little something special just for you for making it through the date without strangling the poor soul.”

The thought alone of tiny Waverly watching on as Nicole jumped out of a bush to strangle an overweight Monopoly Man brought a smile back to her face. “Ok. Just remember that you don’t owe me anything for going out with me.”

“Of course.” Waverly leaned over and kissed her girlfriend softly on the lips. “You’re my sugar momma.” 

Only a beat passed before the women broke out in laughter. “Now get out.” The harsh words were softened by the large smile on Nicole’s lips. “Your sugar momma’s got a lot of work to do before we leave. You too Dolls. Wynonna!”

Waverly grinned as she watched Nicole attempt to herd Dolls and her sister out of the office. It was like herding cats. But they all had to get going- the weekend was only a few days away.


	2. Chapter 2

The bright sunlight of the Caribbean shone through the massive dance hall adding the perfect final touch to the light jazz music playing over the speakers. Dozens of people were milling about dressed to impress despite the heat, conversing over cool glasses of champaign. “Everyone good on comms?” Nicole asked as she and Doc walked into the room, joined at the arm. She wore a pale summer dress that hug to her tall figure with confidence. Adjusting the position of the clutch in her hand, she looked over at her partner for the day.

It was odd to see Doc without a cowboy’s hat on, but even he admitted it wasn’t appropriate for the setting. He wore a pair of dark pants and a vest buttoned over a dress shirt, his hand barely avoided adjusting a nonexistent hat, instead moving to subtly touch the small receiver located in his right ear. “It feels like it’s not gonna stay put...” 

Nicole rolled her eyes- it took her hours to convince Doc that the earbud would pick up whatever he said and transmit it to the rest of the team without giving him cancer or rot his brain. Technology advanced enough to pick up their most whispered words and he was concerned she was out to kill him. If she would, there were only a thousand simpler, cheaper, ways to get the job done.

“It’ll fall out if you keep touching it, dofus.” The sarcasm coating Wynonna’s voice was just as audible as if she was standing right beside them. Looking across the room, Nicole could see the other woman pretending to fix a plate of horderves. Having Wynonna pose as staff allowed her to both wear a suit jacket and pants, both clothing articles allowing for her figure to ‘kick as many asses as my muscles’. Not to mention that servers had access to everywhere and everything and, especially in environments like this, are often overlooked.

Suddenly, feedback from the main sound system caused the crowd to wince and look toward the stage as it quieted down. A man dressed in a tux was standing in front of the microphone stand, looking over at the crowd. “Apologies, my apologies…” To his credit, the man’s smile _was_ apologetic. “But welcome! Welcome one and all to the annual charity auction! Today we have a handful of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes for you to bid on this morning. The highest bidder gets to have an entire evening with them together.”

On the stage behind the emcee stood about a dozen men and women, smiling and waving a the audience. Among them stood Dolls and Waverly, a few people between them to avoid any indication they knew each other. Dolls looked a bit uncomfortable in the green shorts, white polo and boat shoes that he was dressed up in but Waverly looked stunning in the flower covered navy dress, completely at ease at the situation. “Dolls, relax. You look like you have a stick up your butt.” Wynonna’s voice muttered in their ears. The man shot her a look from the stage before adjusting his pose in an attempt to look casual.

It was only mildly successful.

“Now everyone dig deep into your checkbooks and let’s bring up our first contestant… Joseph Brown!” 

Doc slowly led Nicole by the arm without purpose around the room, acting as if they were merely taking in the sights. “Wynonna- Eve will be a high bidder, looking for her next mark. Tail the enthusiastic folk.” He muttered.

A few people were auctioned off and kept Wynonna busy before the announcer called “Anthony McDowell!” and caught everyone’s attention. Dolls stepped forwards and struck a pose, showing off his arm muscles. “This handsome man comes from the Idaho in the United States and from humble beginnings working on a potato farm.” The emsee read the short bio off a small flashcard as Dolls smiled to the crowd. “As he grew older he bought up more and more land and now is one of the owner of biggest suppliers of potatoes and corn in the state. Let’s start the bidding at $1,000. Do I have $1,000?”

“Idaho?” Doc asked, looking over at Nicole skeptically. Immediately hands were raised into the air, increasing the bidding amount.

The redhead shrugged with an air of nonchalance, grabbing a glass of champagne as a waiter carried a tray of filled flutes past them. “You come up with something better on such short notice.” She said before taking a sip with a smirk on her lips. “It looks like he’s doing just fine for someone out of Idaho.”

It was true- the emcee was already gathering bids at $12,000. “...And sold to the lovely woman in the back for an impressive $14,750!”

“Damn, nearly fifteen hundred?” Dolls muttered, jumping off the stage and making his way back to the highest bidder, a woman with dark red hair. “ _Quinn Stacey, nice to meet you._ ” The woman’s voice was a little faint, primarily due to the comm’s problematic microphone range, but it oozed with confidence.

Wynonna moved around the room as the emcee started auctioning off the next volunteer. Carefully she approached an event attendee and, with a quick sleight of hand, produced the woman's driver's license. A grin emerged as she took out her cell phone, opened the app Nicole had created for her and held the piece of plastic in front of the camera. Pictures flashed across the screen as the software compared the picture to thousands of faces populated from whatever databases Nicole had been able to get access. “No matches so far. Are you sure this thing works, Haught?” Wynonna said as the screen flashed the bright red text **No Match**. “Waverly said she could change a lot about her. Could she beat the computer?”

The loud scoff Nicole made brought a few unwanted stares in her direction. “Bite your tongue, Earp.” She muttered, running her hand through her hair in a poor attempt to get it to fall and cover her reddening cheeks. “She might be good but she’s not good enough to beat _me_.” 

“ _Can I get a picture? It’s for the charity’s monthly mailer._ ”

“ _Only if you get me staring into those chocolate pools in his eyes._ ”

“Whoa there. Don’t lose your balance on me.”

Whoever Dolls was talking to didn’t keep Nicole’s attention for very long. The person on the stage just got finished being actioned and was ‘sold’ for $9,000. “Next up, let me introduce you to Ava Martinez!” Waverly took a few steps forward and giggled, playing with the skirt of her dress. Nicole stopped looking around the room to stare at her girlfriend command the room with another laugh and (probably) fake blush.

Even Wynonna seemed to pause from her routine to look at the stage and whisper a soft, “You got this, baby girl” in support. They should have known better; Waverly needed no words of support, as she was already in control of the audience.

“Ava here- oh wow we already have a bid being raised. $5,000!” Nicole's eyes shot up as she looked around to see who was jumping the gun- it was some man in a cowboy hat. She wrinkled her nose; she didn't like him. “I guess we'll start the bidding and you can find out about Ava on your date. Do I have $6,000?” A different hand shot up this time, a Latina woman holding a bidding card, her midriff on display for the entire room to see. Nicole had the brief thought that she might like the woman even less than the cowboy. Unfortunately for her (and the uneasy feeling in her stomach), the two started to rapidly bid against each other, driving the dollar amount skywards.

“Damn if I knew Waves would get this high of an offer, I'd have signed her up for this sooner.” Wynonna’s voice crackled over the earbuds. “The Homestead would look _so_ much nicer.” The Latina confidently raised the price to $10,000 causing Waverly’s eyes to go slightly wide in disbelief and her cheeks to flush a deep scarlet. As much as she hated to admit it, Waverly’s actions brought Nicole a slight comfort- maybe her girlfriend hated this whole mess as much as she did.

“There’s only so many decorative pillows you could fill in the place, Wynonna.” Doc muttered quietly, sipping a drink he pulled out of nowhere. 

Nicole looked over at him, surprised both at the fact the drink existed and that he was drinking while they were on a job. “Is that really the best idea, Doc?” She asked, pretending to fiddle with a compact she pulled out of her clutch.

He gave an apathetic shrug. “Go play with your newfangled phone application and help Wynonna. We’ve been together too long.” The redhead gave a frown and walked off, grumbling about ‘what could Wynonna see in that man’.

Wynonna’s voice cut into her muttering, “I heard that, Haught.”

Before she had a chance to react and defend herself, the emcee shouted through the mic “And _sold_ to the gentleman in the rancher’s hat for a record-setting $18,000!” Nicole’s head snapped towards the stage to see Waverly gracefully hopping down from the stage and making her way back to the cowboy. “Congratulations, sir, I hope you have a great time. Finally, we have...” Nicole suppressed a growing frown as she moved forward to join Wynonna on ID-detail.

Waverly approached the winning bidder wearily; she was an expert at reading people and even from across the room, she knew he felt _off_. While she didn’t want to the lady to win (Nicole was the only girl for her, who was she kidding?), she was willing to take anything with a pulse over this man. He tipped his hat in greeting as she got close enough. “Howdy there. Champ Hardy, at your service.”

Maybe there was some hope for him yet. Even if the name he happily gave out was _Champ_. She gave a short curtsy, “Ava.” She smoothly slipped into a slight accent. She didn’t need to try too hard- she had a feeling that no matter what jumbled mess she presented to him, he’d accept without even thinking about it.

On the other side of the room, Doc approached an open bar and poured himself another drink- he needed far more alcohol to make this errand of his for Bobo tolerable. “You are far too handsome to be drinking by yourself.” The man turned around and brought the glass to his lips as he surveyed the attractive blonde who approached, a camera around her neck.

“If you join me, I won’t be alone.” He replied smoothly, moving to get her a glass. “What’s your poison? Whiskey? Neat?” Doc poured the drink without waiting for a response. When he turned around she was right by the bar, closer to him than he appreciated.

The woman chuckled, leaning on the bar and giving him a wide smile. “My, my. You _are_ a clever one.” She took the offered drink and swirled the liquid around before bringing the glass to her lips. “What’s a clever man like you doing at a place like this if you’re not the bidding type… or the type to offer that mind up for bid?” The woman took a slight sip, relishing in the strong maple flavor. 

Doc took a lingering drink from his own glass, contemplating his answer. “I’m an investor of sorts. What brings a photographer to this type of event?” He asked. “A photographer who hasn’t told me her name, even.” The man gave what he hoped was his most charming smile as she laughed quietly.

“Constance. It’s a pleasure.” She offered her hand which Doc immediately took, bringing it to his lips. It only suited the environment to go all-out. “And I’m with the hosting charity… they pay me and I get all the bidders and their prize for the newsletter.” The woman, Constance, gave a slightly dramatic sigh and turned to face the rest of the hall. “I suppose I should get back to work… Although I’d love to stay here and chat with you.” She said, looking back at him. “You have the most amazing blue eyes, did you know?” Constance tilted slightly to the side as she looked at him with a gentle smile. She reached forward and touched his arm. “I’d love to see you in a bit after I’m done though… will you be here long?”

With a smile of his own, Doc nodded. “I’ll be here as long as your heart desires, my dear.” He brought his glass to his lips, giving her a knowing smile before taking a small sip.

“ _You’re such a sap, Doc._ ” Even across the room, Doc could tell Wynonna was rolling her eyes.

Sap he might be, but Constance lit up at his words. “Wonderful! I’ll see you in a bit.” She squeezed his hand slightly and disappeared into the audience, just in time for the announcer to yell, “Sold!” for the last time that day.

There was a moment of silence before Wynonna spoke up again. “ _I don’t like her._ ”

“ _Can I take a picture of the most valuable and charitable people in the room?_ ”

“ _Of course you can! Ava, come here._ ”

“Ouch!” Waverly’s voice caused a bit of feedback. “Not so tight, Champ.”

“Any sign of Eve?” Doc growled, ignoring Wynonna’s comment. He knew she was just being grumpy because an attractive woman was talking to him.

“No.” Nicole sighed. “None of the IDs match.”

“I lifted some phones-”

“Wynonna!”

“All of them are burners.”

“...oh.”

“No residual data, no GPS…”

“Excuse me for a moment, Quinn. Let me grab you a drink.” Dolls started moving across the room away from the girl. He took the time at the bar to to whisper to the others. “It’s a ring. Look around. Except for Waverly’s… person, they’re all doing the same moves. Eve’s not alone.”

By this time Nicole had met up with Wynonna in a corner of the ballroom, glaring at her for swiping phones. The two watched the moments of the crowd for a few minutes in silence. An uncomfortable feeling started growing in Nicole’s stomach as she watched various people (mostly women), acting just like Waverly did when she was trying to get a mark on her side. “They’re all the same.”

“This many grifters?” Waverly’s voice was hushed; Nicole saw her across the room using her hair to mask the movement of her lips. “The leader has to be here. Find them- _Really_? You stayed on the bull for _that_ long?” Nicole stifled a laugh- Waverly’s interest was so forced it was almost painful.

Doc appeared at the side of the two women. “Wynonna, would you do the honor of finding out who’s in charge? Create a disturbance of sorts.”

The grin on the elder Earp’s face was almost frightening as she took off across the room. “Do you ever see something and then get a sense of dread of what’s going to happen?” Nicole asked no one in particular. She glanced over at Doc who wore a knowing smile, watching Wynonna in approach Doll’s bidder.

“ _...I’ve actually been on the island for a while- who are you?_ ” Nicole watched in mild horror as Wynonna pulled back her arm and punched the woman square in the face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upload schedule? What upload schedule? I thought those were a myth!

Everything seemed to slow down as Wynonna’s fist slammed into the woman’s face. Nicole would swear up and down that the entire dance hall froze in place except for Wynonna and Doll’s date. There was a moment where nothing moved except the woman, her hands moving to her face and eyes widening in confusion and anger.

But then it was over. The speakers continued to blast light notes and most pairs across the room were talking as if nothing happened. 

A select few people though, both near Wynonna and across the room, turned and rushed over to the pair. They descended around Dolls’ date, forming almost a barrier between the woman and Wynonna. In response, Dolls led Wynonna away but their coms picked up the chatter as if it were in surround sound.

_“Oh my gosh, what happened?”_

_“I saw it **all** \- she was completely out of line._”

_“She’s just jealous.”_

Nicole and Doc watched as a blonde woman approached, almost taking charge of the situation by draping an arm around the woman’s shoulders.

_“Let’s get some ice on that. Come on, dear.”_

Doc stiffened as they watched them move like a flock of flamingos out of the ballroom. “Constance.” He growled as Dolls and Wynonna joined them, the latter looking oddly smug and proud of herself. “The photographer. She’s the ringleader.”

“Makes sense.” Dolls agreed with a nod. “She gets pictures of her people and their marks to see which make the best targets. Which ones to focus on.” He crossed his arms and took a deep breath. “Did you get anything off her when you were sweeping her off her feet?” He asked Doc with a grin. The glare that was given in response spoke louder than an actual verbal reply. “We need to get to know her then. Get some information on her and what she’s doing at these things.”

Nodding at nothing in particular, Doc looked across the hall willing his mind to come up with a plausible way to get details Constance might not be ready to disclose to a virtual stranger right away. “Wynonna, save your sister.” Nicole scanned the room, immediately finding Waverly sporting a rather pained expression. It almost brought a smile to her face.. in the way that watching those close to you in tedious situations became humorous. “Nicole, come with me. Dolls... amuse yourself.” Without explaining himself, Doc turned and walked off into the crowd leaving Nicole to run after him.

* * *

By the time Nicole and Doc stood in the courtyard watching a rather shitty a water display, the mild hype that Wynonna had caused had died down and left a calm over the partygoers. Not that there were many of them left. Even those in high society hated lingering around after fists were thrown. “How’s your girl?” Doc asked the fountain. 

Nicole looked over at the man with a look of confusion, wondering who he was talking to, before a voice spoke up behind them. “She’s fine.” That man must have a 6th sense for knowing when people were walking up behind him. She turned around to see Constance approach them, a frown barely visible on her face.

“A bloody nose but she’ll be fine… no thanks to you.” Her voice sounded different than over the coms. “She’ll never get the deposit on that dress back. Pity.” Doc turned around only to smile at the blonde, egging her on. “You’re not an investor.”

“You’re not a photographer.”

“Everyone has their hobbies.” Constance replied flippantly.

“Just like mine is investing- I just tend to invest in people, not things.” Doc said, giving her a meaningful look. “I’m sure you invest in the same stocks as well.”

If looks could kill, Constance would be tried and jailed for murder. “This has always been my territory and I don’t take kindly to strangers. What do you want so I can never see you again?”

“Oh come on darlin’, you think I’m here to take over?” Doc gave a bark of a laugh before turning on a smile that he knew charmed even the most stubborn women. “I’ve heard of your crew, the plays you run. I want in.” This got Constance’s attention, prompting her to cross her arms and lift an eyebrow, commanding a better explanation. “My crew’s small but they’re good. They could even get the girl you let get away.”

This got Constance laughing, loud and genuine. “I beg your pardon?”

“The highest earner of the morning. Ava, I think her name was? Did you see how uncomfortable she was when your girl was bidding on her? Even if you got her, she’d never fall her- not long or deep enough to take her for a ride. She’d call it a coffee date at best and then refuse to ever interact with you or your crew ever again.” Doc said, his smile long gone at this point. This con required her to believe him without any doubt; no hint of a lie. “We can win her over.”

Doc’s words didn’t convince Constance, who snorted in response. “Please. Maria has never lost a mark before; the cowboy was just willing to fork over more than we expected. It was a cost-analysis thing. She wasn’t worth it.”

Bile seemed to rise up in Nicole’s mouth; Waverly was priceless and worth everything. The act of visible indifference churned unhappily in her stomach. Everything inside her told her that Wynonna shouldn’t be the only one to punch someone today. 

“Her face up there on that stage told a different story.” Doc said. “You might have won her time but in no way were you gettin’ her money. Not with Maria… or probably anyone sporting her tools.” He gave a proud smile- half proud of his argument against Constance and her crew, half proud of coming up with a seemingly-tactful phrasing of words.

Nicole didn’t buy it, and she wondered if Constance would. If her job and time in Waverly’s world taught her anything, it was that anyone could be susceptible to a grifter. 

It was just slightly _easier_ when you’re targeting someone with their preferred sex. 

“This is Jessica.” Doc said, nodding in Nicole’s direction who took the hint and stood ever-so-slightly taller with pride. “She’s a bit of a thief.” Whatever works for the play, she supposed. “She does most of our scouting. The breaking and entering. Getting our name on these invitation lists. Social skills of a slug-” 

To hell with keeping up appearances- con be damned. “Hey!” Nicole exclaimed, looking over at Doc visibly offended. Although, if she was being honest and thinking of Wynonna, it was probably a good description of the thief.

He continued as if nothing happened. “- she can win over Ava and get her fortune. We do that, we get in your crew. As a courtesy, we’ll even give you 30% of this first job.”

Constance’s dark eyes trailed over Nicole’s body leaving goosebumps in their wake. Slowly, the older woman walked around her, judging and contemplating. “40%. And this one wears adheres to my crew’s rules.” The older woman stated her demands as she came to face Doc. She took another step to approach the redhead, staring into her as if waiting for Nicole to crack and bring down the house of lies they’ve so carefully constructed. “Can’t have her strong-arming sweet little Ava and exposing us all just because you wanted to prove a point.” She brought up her hand and ghosted her fingers over Nicole’s cheek, not touching her skin but making her tense up nonetheless.

It took all of her self control not to slap it away and regin control of her personal space. “Fine with me.” The words came out of grit teeth but they came out; it probably helped sell the bit of her apparently horrible social skills.

She hated when Doc took the lead on these things.

“Sounds lovely.” His words broke Constance out of her trance, prompting her to step back to a more reasonable conversational distance. “Do you have any other terms?” A part of her, the one that had been pulling weird heists at various stages of her life both before and after joining the force, screamed in defiance. You never blatantly gave an enemy the upper hand in a negotiation.

Constance let out a slightly dramatic sigh, as if this wasn’t on the top of her head. “You’ll be with me; she might not have charm but you have a certain… air about you.” She waved her hand airily in Doc’s direction. “Having someone whisper lines in your ear is cheating.” Doc mumbled something inaudible but there was no doubt it was a snarky comment. “I’ll let you know the details tomorrow… but you have three days.”

Nicole let out a disbelieving scoff she attempted to (poorly) play off as a cough. Doc’s social skills snide comment was becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. “What happens in three days?” She asked. It was a fair question, wasn’t it?

The smile forming on Constance’s face was one that would make even the Cheshire Cat proud. “I drop some very incriminating papers off at the local police station, postmark some others to a certain government agency and leave the country.” Her voice was so cheery it was grating. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Stay local.” With a flirtatious wink, Constance turned on her heel and walked off into the crowd leaving Doc and Nicole alone with the gurgling of the water display behind them.

Suddenly, a shrill voice in their ears broke the silence. “What the hell you guys? Do you know how long I had to talk about the freaking _rodeo_? No one gives a damn about how fast you can hogtie a pig!” Waverly shrieked, prompting even Nicole to pull out her earpiece and stick it in her pocket. Right before she let it go, she could feel the vibrations of Waverly’s complaints going through the small speaker against her fingertip. 

Nicole looked over at Doc, trying to read his facial expression or where his thoughts led after the conversation. “Thanks for that.” She muttered, not quite appreciating being flaunted for her sexuality.

“My apologies Miss Haught.” Doc said softly, catching onto her annoyance. He opened his mouth once or twice, obviously searching for words and failing. “You know I respect you and Waverly-”

She raised her hand to wave him off; she knew he meant nothing by it and was merely using the situation at hand. Not to mention she had a sinking feeling Waverly would go on a rant before bed if she hadn’t heard the conversation initially and Nicole had to explain why Doc had been apologizing to her. “Next time, it’s you and Dolls. Or Wynonna and Dolls.” She forced a small grin to form on her lips.

The man gave her a warm, thankful, smile before reaching up to his ear, slipping his earbud back into place. “Make yourself scarce. Constance’s people might still be around; Waverly keep to yourself. Dolls make sure you have eyes on her.” Doc paused for a moment causing Nicole to smirk- she could only imagine Waverly’s protests about how she didn’t need someone watching her. He continued with a slightly annoyed tone, “We’ll rendezvous back at the hotel and talk about tomorrow.” Doc offered Nicole an arm- Constance already saw them together, they could continue to pretend to be a couple to the other charity goers. “Oh and Wynonna? Please refrain from punching anyone on your way out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, I beta'd this!
> 
> ... I think it's worse.


	4. Chapter 4

“This is a horrible plan.” 

Wynonna had started pacing in the hotel room where they had gathered and Doc filled in the others on the discussion he had had with Constance. Nicole had to agree with the elder Earp- getting accepted into Constance’s crew was _not_ the way she would have suggested they take down Constance. Or find Eve. What was their goal at this point anyway? 

“Have you seen the two of them? They make _The Notebook_ look bleak without even trying.” Okay, maybe she didn’t exactly agree with her.

Doc shrugged his shoulders. “It was the only thing I could think of.” His words went against the smile clear on his features. “Not to mention that we need you to be the one to track down Constance’s headquarters.” 

“Hey! I’ll be with her.” Dolls interjected, a little offended that they seemed to forget about him.

Waverly, who was sitting in an oversized chair tucked away in the corner, let out a scoff. “You’re as graceful as a drunk baby giraffe during a break-in.” She said. Wynonna sent the woman a soft glare from across the room. “You’re muscle, she’s grace.”

“What I _actually_ meant was that Nicole, Waverly and I will be a bit preoccupied with fooling Constance and won’t be able to help you out.” Doc drawled, pointing at Waverly and Nicole in turn. “And since Ms. Haught always does her computer witchcraft to figure out locations...” 

Dolls sat up, adjusting his arms over the chair on which he sat backwards. “Can’t she teach us how to do it? It’s not good to have only one person who knows how to do something.”

“ _She_ is right here.” Nicole said pointedly. Sure, standing behind Waverly wasn’t exactly in the middle of the room but, as Wynonna constantly loved to point out, she was a million feet tall. “And there’s no way either of you would be able to figure it out. It’s a complex sequence of algorithms hooked up to databases from government agencies all over the word cross-referencing terabytes of data every second.” When she got blank face in response, she followed up with, “Wynonna couldn’t fire Peacemaker at it and you couldn’t punch it into submission so I think you two won’t get too far. ” Her words were a little hash, she admitted it, but the gang was starting to play on her last nerve. 

Waverly seemed to catch the not-so-subtle hint, and reached back up over her shoulder to gently put her hand over Nicole’s in comfort.  
It helped a little.

Doc cleared his throat, breaking the slightly awkward pause. “I’m sure Nicole will help do the best she can before she’s taken offline.” He gave a significant look to Waverly, as if to ask her to make sure Nicole follows through.

With a defeated sigh, Nicole nodded. “Wynonna was able to get information off Constance’s phone at the event. It’s pretty sparse but it’s been pinging off cell towers around the island. Between her phone and the ones from her crew, I could probably give you a vague area to look in while we’re out tomorrow.” She was too nice for her own good. The soft squeeze Waverly gave her hand confirmed it. 

“Do you two think you could pull off a convincing act by yourselves?” Dolls asked, looking towards the two ladies in the corner. “I’m not particularly comfortable having Doc under someone’s thumb without clear backup waiting in the wings.” 

“Well, technically, Nicole’s his backup.” Waverly pointed out. “As far as Constance knows, I’m the outsider; Nicole’s just a member of his crew. If anything goes south, I’m sure she expects her to ditch me and come to his rescue. Honestly, I’d be more worried that I wouldn’t be able to stay in character if Doc or Nicole were hurt.” 

Even in the dim lighting, Nicole could tell that Waverly’s cheeks went pink. “Well hopefully it won’t come to that.” Doc cleared his throat and took his hat off his head, turning it over in his hands. “I can’t imagine she’d want to pass up this opportunity. Remember, Miss Ava here went for nearly 20 thousand. Dumb as he was, the cowboy helped convince Constance that Ava was worth more than a pretty penny.”

Dolls ran his hand over his head, eyes staring at something not quite in the room with them. After a minute, he looked over at Doc... then to Wynonna... then Waverly. “What’s stopping Constance from thinking Ava’s worth more dead than alive?”

* * *

A few hours later (and after many vulgar swear words by Wynonna and Dolls on various topics), Nicole and Waverly retreated to their hotel room. Waverly seemed to relax even more after they crossed the threshold, feet dragging even after discarding her heels. Nicole watched the younger woman undress in silence. “Are you okay, babe?” It was unnerving for Waverly to be so quiet, even after a job where she was always in play.

With a weary smile, Waverly nodded before pulling on the tank top she decided would serve as her pajamas. Selfishly, Nicole loved when they traveled to somewhere warm- it always meant fewer clothes at night. “It’s been a long day.” She said, pulling back the covers and crawling into the lavishly decorated bed. It was Waverly’s type of bed- there were at least 3 blankets and way too many pillows.

Nicole pulled her head through her oversized Purgatory Police Department t-shirt to see Waverly patting the space beside her; beckoning Nicole to join her under the sheets. It didn’t take too much convincing before she was snuggled up into Waverly’s shoulder, enjoying the slight pressure of her girlfriend’s arms around her. “I hope you didn’t lose too many of your brain cells talking to the cow-boy-man.” Nicole said with a laugh.

This earned her a playful slap on the shoulder. “Well luckily for me, even though he bid the most money, you’re the real winner tonight.” Waverly leaned and brought their lips together with a featherlight kiss.

“Mmm...” Nicole let out a soft, approving moan before chasing her girlfriend for another soft brush of their lips. “How am I ever going to pretend that I don’t love you?” She asked, thinking of Wynonna’s comment from earlier. This girl really was the fudge to her sundae.

Waverly just smiled. “I guess you’ll have to bring your A-game, Ms Haught.”

There was a moment when Nicole let her mind wander, imagining just what her A-game actually contained. “Do you want to know what I have planned for you tomorrow?” She asked, adjusting herself so she looked directly into Waverly’s eyes. “I think I’ll start by-”

She was immediately cut off by Waverly’s hands wrapping around her neck and pulling her into a kiss. “Don’t.” Waverly’s voice was soft, lips moving against her own. “I want my reactions to be genuine.” She said with a smile. “Plus. It’s _Jessica_ and _Ava_ meeting each other. Not Nicole and Waverly. Ava might be harder to please than Waverly.”

Nicole raised an eyebrow. “Really?” Would she really do that to her? She pulled back ever so slightly to give them some space. “What does Ava like? How much different than you is she?” It wouldn’t be the first time that Waverly built up a huge background for a grift. “Jess might need some help, you know. Doc says she has horrible social skills. She might do something really stupid.”

This time it was Waverly’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Oh really?” She asked, curiosity peaking. “Like what?”

“Well for one, Jessica already thinks Ava’s really pretty, so she’d probably come up and try to charm her but say something stupid.” Waverly let out a loud laugh, not even trying to muffle it. “Because, you know, she gets nervous. Jess is a thief. She doesn’t do personal interactions. So when Ava’s laughing at her, she’d probably just go in and-” Nicole leaned in and brought their lips together in a light kiss.

Nicole went ahead and leaned Waverly back, deepening the kiss before Waverly pulled away, searching for something in Nicole’s eyes. “What about you?” Waverly’s voice was soft, caring, completely killing the mood that Nicole had tried to set up. She was tired and mostly wanted to spend the night getting lost in the smaller Earp, not her own thoughts. “Are _you_ okay? You seemed a little irritable in there.” 

She went to lean back, to put space between the two women, but Waverly kept her arms wrapped around Nicole’s neck. It would seem that all hope was not lost for her wish for the night. “I’m fine.” Nicole brushed it off, moving in to catch Waverly’s lips with her own once more. 

The other girl pulled away again, giving her a pointed look, clearly not believing anything she was saying. “Baby…”

In that moment, she hated how well Waverly was able to read her. “Doc’s been a bit more grading than usual lately. That’s all.” Nicole didn’t even bother trying to kiss her again, knowing the younger woman would be chaste until she determined the therapy session over. “I just need to get over myself, promise.”

Despite what Nicole thought were words of comfort, Waverly’s eyes furrowed in confusion. “What did he do? I was listening on comms all day, he wasn’t being too bad.” Her hand came up and gently brushed stray red strands of hair behind Nicole’s ears. “Plus he’s entirely too old fashioned for his own good.” Waverly’s shy smile never failed to bring Nicole’s smile out of hiding.

“He was just… Doc.” She sighed. “Like you said. Too old fashioned for his own good.” She didn’t blame Waverly for trying to sort out her issue- hell, if the roles were reversed she’d be half a step to beating Doc down for making her Waverly sad.

She could feel Waverly playing with the short hairs by her neck, a gesture that started off as soothing but had evolved to sign that Waverly’s anxiety levels were rising. “It doesn’t have to do with the whole… gay thing, does it?” She asked cautiously.

Damn she was good.

She had been holding out on the hope that Waverly was too distracted with the cowboy to listen to their conversation properly, but clearly the girl could multitask.

Realizing that she had guessed correctly, Waverly started to backtrack. “Because you know that you’re more than your sexuality and it doesn’t define you and Doc’s basically from the 1800s and has, like, _no_ tact. And we all know you’re the best person on the computer and with the coms that _you made_ and-” Nicole couldn’t help but laugh as she watched the younger girl ramble out an attempt of an apology. Smiling, she kissed her into silence. 

“I know. I promise.” Nicole affirmed, still struggling to keep the giggles away. “It’s just.” A shaky sigh managed to escape her defenses. “It defined me back home, you know? I grew up in a town smaller than Purgatory. Everyone knew each other’s business and I was out to more people than I came out to. Here I was supposed to be something _other_ than just the town’s token lesbian.” She couldn’t help but shake her head to herself. Token lesbian. What was this? A TV show from the 90s?

Waverly tugged Nicole back towards her, crashing their lips together in a heated kiss. When the need for air arose, she let only a hair's breadth between them- just enough to let oxygen rush into their lungs. “You’re so much more than that.” Waverly whispered, pressing their foreheads together.

“Waves.” Nicole breathed, the smile growing even larger on her face. How could this woman, who only figured out her sexuality relatively recently, give Nicole, who knew she was gay since the first grade, the ‘you are not defined by your sexuality’ speech? She was just too perfect.

Waverly seemed to swell with pride at Nicole’s reaction, her fingers tangling in the hair at the Nicole’s neck. “Let me show you.” 

As Nicole was pulled into a heated kiss, she knew that neither of them would be getting much sleep tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... I did not see that coming.
> 
> This weekend/week's holiday!  
> Given that, I probably won't be able to write too much over the weekend, so next week's chapter might be on Thursday instead of Tuesday or whenever I upload.  
>  ~~Let's pretend I write sporadically over the week instead of just all on Monday night.~~
> 
> Thanks again for reading :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's chapter requires lots of thanks to Ally and Luna, who helped this transboy figure out what actually made girls tick.
> 
> Also guys.  
> My friends.   
> Bread is so good.

The soft _ping_ of a cell phone woke the redhead up while Waverly burrowed further into Nicole’s shoulder. Reaching over the sleeping figure beside her, Nicole grabbed Waverly’s phone off the bedside table. The email that she had set up for Ava had received a message.

_Where’d you run off to last night? I tried to track down the person you ran off with but I couldn’t find her. No one had even seen her all night! I’m sorry you got distracted by someone who clearly isn’t as socially well mannered as me._

_You still owe me a date though._

_Brunch at **Mesada Meparat**? 11? I’ll set up the reservation.  
Can’t wait to see you again,  
Your Champ._

Before Nicole could finish rolling her eyes, her own phone went off. She replaced her phone with Waverly’s on the nightstand beside her as she looked at her newest text message. It was addressed to the local numbers she had acquired for her and Doc.

_Meet me outside last night’s venue. 10:45. Dress nice. -C_

Unable to stop herself a smile emerged, at least Constance was on top of her game. A stray thought crossed her mind- maybe Constance had a hacker of her own on her team. How else would she be able to access Waverly’s email that was only given to the charity auction people? Or the phone numbers that were only given to the rest of the crew? The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she became. She had been careful covering their tracks, but everyone leaves digital footprints...

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Waverly’s voice was raspy with sleep as the smaller woman shifted in Nicole’s arms. “Your heart’s racing.” Nicole looked down to see concerned eyes looking up at her, blinking away any residual drowsiness. “I thought I was the only one to get it to do that this early.” She said, lips placing a soft kiss on Nicole’s exposed collarbone.

Nicole gave an appreciative hum as she reached over and returned Waverly’s phone to its owner. “You have a date with the boy-man today.” At Waverly’s frown, she continued. “But apparently _I_ have a date with Constance just before yours so I have a feeling our paths with cross.” 

With a huff, Waverly slumped back down onto the pillows, throwing the comforter over her head.

* * *

“How do I look, Ms Haught?” Doc’s southern drawl was even more pronounced as he held out his arms to show Nicole his outfit.

She rolled her eyes. “You look just like you always do.” He had no real reason to dress up- she was the one who was being thrown into play in a fancy restaurant. Doc was dressed in a not-as-western button up as she had grown accustomed seeing him in but he was still wearing a jeans and a vest... not to mention the legendary hat. So points for effort. Nicole, on the other hand, sported a bright purple dress with only a simple bangle on her wrist for accessory.

Reaching over to her partner, she took her cell phone from the vest’s front pocket- they all agreed that Constance would be happier if she didn’t carry anything. Dolls wasn’t pleased as she was virtually naked, left only with her hands for any potential self defense. Realistically though, Waverly was the one who needed to pack any heat and would be hurt if things went south, so Nicole had given the smaller woman her taser and Doc her phone.

When in doubt, friends can easily double as bags or purses. 

After tapping a few commands into the interface, lines of code flew up the screen. “Wynonna. Dolls.” She asked quietly, getting their attention. “Can you do anything with these coordinates?”

Across the city, Dolls sat in the driver’s seat of a convertible (Wynonna’s request) as Wynonna sat with a pile of maps in her lap (Doll’s demand). “Earp’s looking at them now.” He said, looking over at the frustrated woman beside him. Just to spite Wynonna some more, he tapped on the accelerator and glanced over as the wind picked up and caused Wynonna to curse as she struggled to keep the maps open on the right pages. 

“They’re not exactly specific, Haughtstuff.” Wynonna said, sputtering as hair flew into her open mouth. “One’s a home and garden store, another’s a parking lot… where you even trying?”

Eyes narrowed, Nicole opened her mouth to argue before the loud _clink clink_ of heels on tile rang out of the lobby where they stared at the same fountain from less than 24 hours ago. The two turned around to see Constance approach them, much more confident than the previous day.

It was easier to be confident when the cards were stacked in your favor and you're counting.

The woman was beaming from ear to ear as she stopped in front of them. “Glad to see you two made it.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” Doc smiled in a way that Nicole knew was killing him inside. “I assume, however, that we’re not planning on staying here for too much longer.”

Constance gave a knowing grin. “Once more proving you’re the mastermind of your organization.” Her voice was genuine despite the words usually sporting a sarcastic tone. The woman reached into the purse slung over her shoulder and pulled out a clear sandwich bag. Inside were three small flesh colored devices, oddly familiar to Nicole. They looked like her- “Radios.” Constance announced, fishing the tiny transmitters out of the baggie. She reached forward and placed one in Nicole’s palm (after nudging it open) and then into Doc’s. “They’ll pick up everything you or the lovely Miss Ava say.”

“So how do you expect me to find Ava?” Nicole asked, rolling the earpiece in her fingers. It was awkward, larger than her own invention. “I haven’t seen her since yesterday.” She was suddenly quite grateful for the lying lesson that Wynonna had forced her to partake in after what they’ve been calling “The Pussy Willows Incident”. Both Earp girls have ensured her that she would never live it down.

“Maria is not only just very good looking, but she is also very good with computers.” That confirmed it- Constance had a hacker. Her palms started to sweat; she adjusted her stance slightly so she could wipe them on her dress subtly. The only thing that stopped Nicole going into full panic mode was that Constance’s crew must be small- you never sent all of your players out without an alternate. Dolls could go on forever about that. “She noticed that Ava’s date set up a reservation at the _Mesada Meparat_ for this morning. I’m assuming you’re skilled enough to make contact despite the cowboy’s presence?”

Nicole nodded, knowing that Waverly would probably cause her own diversion to get away from the man. What was his name…? Champ. What sort of name was _that_? “Of course.”

Constance looked over at Doc. “Don’t worry... partner,” she said, clearly critiquing his style of dress while sweeping her eyes up and down his body, “you and I will be at a table across the dining room. Making sure your girl is on her best behavior.”

To Doc’s credit, he seemed completely unruffled as he smiled, put his hands over his belt, thumbs behind it, and said “Sounds lovely. After you?” He motioned towards the door with his head.

She held up her own earbud and stuck it in place, glaring at the two of them until they followed suit. Nicole felt a little weird wearing an earbud in each ear but, as she critiqued Maria’s handiwork, at least her own was small enough and clear as if it wasn’t there in the first place . “Awesome!” If the woman clapped her hands and bounced a little on her heels, she’d fit in perfectly at a suburban community soccer match for preschoolers. “Let’s go!” 

“Waves, I’m going to need an entry point.” Nicole said softly, trailing slightly behind Doc and Constance as they engaged in light conversation.

“Not a problem.” She tried to hide the smile that appeared at Waverly’s voice as they piled into the town car with tinted windows Constance appeared to have acquired for their ride. “I’ll try not to seem overeager.”

* * *

Constance had sent Nicole in first, somehow arranging for her to have table beside an excited Champ and a less-than-enthused Waverly; her smile barely hit her eyes. They looked to have been there for a while now. A waiter came up to Nicole’s table and asked if she was ready to order. “I’m waiting for someone but…” She hesitated slightly but, knowing she was on Constance’s dime, continued, “Could I actually get a glass of your finest white wine?”

“Cheeky.” Constance’s voice whispered in her ear as the waiter nodded and walked off.

Unable to hide a small grin, Nicole listened in the conversation happening beside her. Her own earbud had picked up Waverly’s frequency ages ago and had turned off, eliminating any potential echo (a feature Wynonna would not let her skip developing after their first job together). Champ was rambling about… something and soon Nicole sported the same look as Waverly, just without the quickly fading forced sense of interest.

Waverly was humoring him, humming in agreement as she took another sip of the red wine in front of her. Nicole noticed the bottle was at least half empty. “I just don’t understand the global demand or interest in makeup.” Champ announced, reaching forward to take a bite of one of the small appetizers in front of them. “Sure, it’s millions of dollars in revenue per year for folks like me, but the women who use it? I’ve seen some of the videos on YouTube, they just look so _fake_ when they use it. How low does their self esteem have to be to think they need to use foundation?” Waverly stopped nodding and was merely watching the man in front of her, her lips a thin line.“Usually the women I meet at these things are so _fake_.” He stressed the word again. “I mean. Look at _you_! You look amazing. You don’t try too hard. It’s a phase-thing, I think. Sometime to delve into during primary school and then grow out of… whoever use it as a crutch are clearly deeply insecure.”

“Is that so?” The smaller woman asked, her expression completely unreadable. Champ had no idea, of course, that Nicole had watched Waverly carefully apply her makeup earlier this morning, taking pride in her brush strokes. “It’s an interesting view.” Finally, Waverly let her voice crack, letting it show that her feelings were hurt by his words. 

The man-boy seemed to catch onto his mistake, thankfully, and started to backtrack slightly. “Well of course, not you. Like I said, babe, you look amazing-” He leaned forward to take Waverly’s hand in his but she pulled back slightly, subtly rejecting his move. Frustrated, he pulled back, knocking over the bottle of red wine all over the table.

With a rather over dramatic gasp, Waverly stood up, her lap wet with the red liquid. She was wearing a light blue dress and the stain spread quickly. “My dress!” She started patting it with a napkin, trying to reduce the damage.

“It’s just a dress, it’s ok.” Champ flustered standing up, clearly caught off guard. He caught the attention of a passing waiter. “Excuse me, could we get some club soda or- ”

“Just a dress?” Nicole could tell that Waverly was _actually_ offended at this. “This is a brand new Lilly Pulitzer! Do you know how hard it is to get stains out of this?”

Nicole realized this was the opening she was waiting for. Grabbing her glass of white wine, she jumped up and moved over to where Waverly stood, touching the other woman’s arm slightly. “Excuse me. May I?” She asked, lifting her own wine glass slightly. Seeing a rather hasty nod, Nicole took a spare napkin from the table, dipped it in her own wine and pressed it against the pink stain. After a quiet minute, she looked up to Waverly’s eyes. “Can I take you back to the restroom and help you before the stains set? We don’t have much time. I know that particular material is fairly tricky to wash.” She offered, flashing what she hoped was an award-winning smile. 

It wasn’t hard to give a genuine smile. She was with Waverly Earp.

The smaller woman looked over and practically sighed with relief. “Please do. Thank you.” Nicole stood up and placed the damp napkin down on the table with her now disregarded glass of wine.

They started walking off, leaving Champ standing in the mess he made. Before they could reach out of earshot, Nicole spoke up, making sure her voice carried. “I love your makeup today. You _must_ tell me what you used.” Waverly grinned, clearly struggling to keep her laughter at bay as they walked. As they passed Constance and Doc’s table, Nicole saw Doc wink at them as they moved towards the front of restaurant. Glancing back towards the dining room, Nicole saw that Champ was looking in a different direction. She put a finger to her lips and motioned for Waverly to follow her outside.

It wasn’t until the sun beat on their heads in the park a block away did they pause at a water fountain. Nicole motioned towards the dress silently, asking for permission before receiving a nod and applying a bit of water to the fabric. “I’m not sure how well that’ll work...” Waverly started before Nicole silently reached down her dress and pulled out a Tide to Go pen.

“These things are _magic_.” Nicole grinned and crouched down to apply the magical liquid to the baby blue dress. “The dress isn’t silk so it should be okay.” She said, her tongue between her teeth in concentration. “It’s pretty faint now...” She observed, standing up upright and returning the Tide pen from where it came from. “I’ll personally pay for his mistake if that doesn’t come out in the next wash.” Nicole offered.

Waverly raised an eyebrow, barely able to suppress the smile forming on her lips. “Oh really?” At Nicole’s nod, she let the grin come out unabashedly. “Well if that’s a possibility, I’ll have to know your name.”

“Jessica. But you can call me Jess.” Nicole said. “To get my last name, you’ll have to spend another hour with me.”

It was a bold move, but she thought it would be alright. Not to mention that Waverly was exceptional at improvising scenarios. It’s what made her such a good grifter. The brown haired woman let out a fake sigh of exasperation. “I suppose you deserve it. My knight in purple armour saving me from easily the worst date I’ve ever experienced.” The laughter within her finally bubbled over the surface as she extended a hand towards Nicole. “I’m Ava. Nice to meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Mesada Meparat is Hebrew for "Fine restaurant". Because I'm unimaginative. 
> 
> Thanks again for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't even proof read this before throwing it up here.  
> Forgive any grammar errors/point them out and I'll correct.
> 
> I felt bad for keeping yall waiting a bit longer than expected.  
> Enjoy!

No matter where they were, Nicole always seemed to feel sparks when her hands touched Waverly’s and that was no different under the Caribbean sun wearing different names. She had to fight to keep her breath from hitching and being picked up on Constance’s radio while they shook hands.

“Down there, Big Red. She’s supposed to be straight.” Wynonna’s voice crackled in her ear. A loud grunt and then the clang of metal against metal. What were Dolls and Wynonna even up to, anyway? “Waves, make sure you don’t fall right away.”

Doll’s voice came through and she could imagine him speaking through grit teeth, straining under some arbitrary weight. “So straight not even Constance could win you.”

“I am not a prize to be won!” Waverly clearly struggled to keep her voice low and her mouth unmoving- just because they couldn’t _see_ Doc and Constance didn’t mean they weren’t watching. Nicole couldn’t help the stupid grin coming over her face- only Waverly would risk a con to quote Aladdin. But the gem in front of her was already covering her tracks. “So what do you want to do for another hour?” She asked, slipping back into her role.

Unfortunately, Nicole hadn’t thought this far ahead. “Dressed like this?” She racked her mind over their surrounding area. “I do feel bad about making you run out of free food...”

Waverly let out a bark of laughter. “With Mr. Hardy? He’s hardly the epitome of class.” She said, perhaps a little too quickly. “I had the feeling that he would keep up with the good social grace of paying for a first dates’ meal.”

“Oh?” Nicole feigned ignorance. After all, she wasn’t supposed to have seen Ava before. “If you didn’t like him, why did you go out with him?”

It probably wasn’t a fair question to ask, but why did anyone get up on that stage to be auctioned off? “It’s a long story.” She smiled nonetheless, letting Nicole it was okay to press.

So she agreed. “Humor me then.”

Luckily for Waverly, backstory was where she shined. The minute that Nicole had given her to produce a story was more than enough. “My father does business in the oil industry.” She said, waving her hand airly. “He’s one of those big-wig types, always flaunting his wealth and rubbing it in people’s faces. He and I… disagree in some of his ideologies. He’s not a particular fan of me being pro-alternative energy. So once I turned 18, I became a bit petty.” She said, letting a self conscious blush overtake her features. “Using his name to give back, reverse some of the damage he’s done on the world. Volunteering, donating to charities…. stuff like that. Today was one of those charity events. One of those stupid ‘bid on person and win a date’ sort of deals.” Nicole was impressed, it all seemed to fit well enough. “Champ was the highest bidder.” She said, her voice plainly expressing her disappointment.

She let her face fall while trying to find the proper balance of sympathy and concern for someone who she supposedly just met. “I’m sorry.” Was that an appropriate reaction? 

Part of her wished that Wynonna or literally anyone other than Waverly was across from her. She clearly underestimated how hard it would be to _not_ want to just scoop her girlfriend up and hold her close. 

Suddenly, she got an idea. “How about this- I know this place where we could hang out, get a few drinks and just relax. Maybe find you someone better than Champ to go out to lunch with.” A bar of any sort would be a better environment for a first date… at least in her experience it was. “Not to mention, there’s a significant less chance some overgrown frat boy will ruin an expensive dress.”

Waverly’s smile was slow but shy. “That sounds great, actually. Do you have a specific place in mind?” She asked. “Sometimes it’s easier to place a call ahead and mention my father’s name-”

“No, no, no.” Nicole shook her head, waving off the offer. “You might be your father’s daughter, but that isn’t all you are. I’m going to take you somewhere and you’re going to just be Ava. Your own person.” Suddenly Nicole had a flashback to a conversation she had with Waverly mere months ago. “And you’re going to have _fun_. In jeans.” She added with a grin.

While she adored seeing Waverly all dressed up (and she knew the feeling was mutual), they were on a job and fancy dress was bad news bears if they needed to make a get away. 

“You’re throwing away a beautiful day in the sun?” Constance’s voice surprised her slightly, having completely forgotten all about the older woman. “Not to mention that you just signed up to play wingwoman. Novice mistake.”

“I disagree.” Doc came to her defense in a heartbeat. “Miss Ava’s all caught up in her head and the encounter with Mr. Hardy is fresh in her mind. Tonight would be a so-called clean slate.”

This seemed to subdue the woman as the pair fell silent once more. Nicole took the opportunity to look expectedly at Waverly, who looked like she was pondering her decision. She was thankful- Waverly must have known that someone else was talking in Nicole’s ear. “That sounds nice, actually. I haven’t had a night out in a long time.” She declared finally. “A girls’ night out, as it were.”

“Can I see your phone?” Nicole asked. It would be smoother, she thought, if she had her own phone on her, but it currently sat in Doc’s breast pocket. 

Damn Dolls and his paranoia.  
Even if he was right.

Being a good sport, Waverly reached into her clutch and pulled out the cell phone in question. “I won’t give you my last name until tonight…” Nicole said, biting her bottom lip in concentration as she navigated through the burner phone. It was an act, of course, her own fake number was already inside, but it helped sell the act. “But you can have my number.” She gave the phone back to Waverly, letting their fingers touch just a second longer than necessary. “I’ll call you when it’s time to pick you up. Say... 7:30? 8:00?” Nicole flashed a smile- she’d have a solid block of time to find a bar that they could spend the night.

Waverly held the phone gingerly in her hands, almost hesitantly. “That sounds great.”

“Gives you some time to unwind and purge your date from your memory.” This brought a genuine laugh from the other woman, putting Nicole’s oddly apparent nerves at ease. “I’ll see you tonight?”

“Of course.” Waverly nodded, putting the phone away as if she needed an excuse to do something with her hands. “Call me?” She asked.

Nicole couldn’t help but watch her girlfriend, falling in love with her all over again. “Of course.”

With a small wave of her fingers, Waverly turned and walked away, disappearing around the curve of the park’s path. “How’d I do?” Her disembodied voice sounded in her ear as soon as she was out of view.

Unable to say anything lest Constance was listening, Nicole was thankful for Wynonna’s “Sounded good, baby girl” comment. She even cracked a smile when a “I guess you sounded good too, Haught.” followed a few beats later. Running a hand through her hair, she turned around to see Doc sporting a shit-eating grin with a slightly annoyed looking Constance beside him.

“So where do you expect to take her?” The woman asked. “I don’t expect that you know this area too well.” Constance put out her hand, silently demanding for her earbud to be returned.

Nicole shrugged, admitting defeat as she pulled the small radio out of her ear. “I don’t know.” She carefully placed the flesh coloured device into Constance’s palm, her mind in overdrive genuinely trying to think of a place for the evening; she hadn’t done any background research on the island’s club scene- much less checking whether the gay club scene even existed. It wasn’t exactly a priority. “I’ll admit to not knowing the area, but I do have people who do.”

Or rather, she had an internet connection and that’s close enough.

Her uncertainty was picked up by the other woman. “I expect a phone call before you call Miss Ava.” She said cooly. While it was unspoken, it would be an easy assumption that Doc would be picked and an earbud would be dropped off before she would be followed to wherever Nicole dreamed up to go.

“Whatever your dear heart desires, Ms. Clootie.” Doc grinned, clearly happy with this morning’s events.

Wynonna’s snort was audible even over their radios. “Did you just say her last name was _Clootie_? What kind of name is that?”

“I feel like I’ve heard that name before.” Dolls spoke, his glare at Wynonna loud and clear in his voice. “Maybe in a file somewhere at the station?”

“No, it sounds familiar to me too.” Waverly sounded as if she was already mentally going through her library searching for the name. It wouldn’t surprise Nicole if the younger girl was already halfway to the hotel and five steps into research she’d be starting already- all while making sure she wasn’t being followed. She felt her heart swell at the thought; maybe as a police office she shouldn’t find her girlfriend’s law-exploiting skills nearly as attractive as she did.

Oh well.

Forcing her attention back on the discussion in front of her, Nicole saw Doc nodding at something the woman said before Constance shot her a glare. “Just make sure you don’t _actually_ fall for this girl. I can see it in your eyes.” The blonde looked Nicole up and down. “I’ve heard about how fast _your types_ move. U-hauling?” 

Before either Doc or Nicole could recover from the shock of her words, Constance turned on her heel and walked off.

* * *

Across town, Wynonna and Dolls were weaving between storage containers in a large warehouse, keeping to the long shadows stretching across the floor. One of the coordinates that Nicole had given them implied that a statue was Constance’s hideout. Dolls surveyed the area around the artistic installation and figured the large building with no windows was their best bet.

This was their third stop of the day. They had hoped to hit at least one more but since Constance had left the others, their time was limited. Especially if they were approaching her headquarters.

As they moved, soft voices slowly became audible, echoing off the sharp metal corners of the containers that populated the warehouse interior. Wynonna looked over at Dolls, casting a worried look- they hadn’t expected people to be around. Dolls shrugged, pulling his gun out of its holster as they neared an closed door with light shining the space beneath it. Curious, Wynonna stood against the doorframe, took out her radio and strained both to hear the discussion inside. 

“...we need another day. She’s been changing her schedule.”

“New target?”

“New ally, we think.”

It was just two voices, holding a civil discussion, nothing to worry about. However, a feeling at the base of her spine told Wynonna something was off.

“Will she find the explosives?”

There it is.

“We seeded the office pretty well, but it’s all hidden.”

“Good… good… what about these new people?”

“Just two of them, but the intel’s hard to get. The leader says there’s more of them though. Hard to verify.”

“If they’re a threat, we need to eliminate them. Clootie’s crew has been gaining too much ground for comfort.”

“What about their target?”

“The small one? Oil heiress?”

“Yeah.”

“... if they all disappear at the same time, police will point fingers at Clootie.” Wynonna’s heartbeat picked up, thundering in her chest, as the voice’s owner seemed to ponder the situation. “If you can get some of that inheritance in our account, I wouldn’t say no.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. We’ve done worse transfers.”

“Then let’s do that. Get Clootie off our territory, make a statement for outsiders and even get a payday. Should be fun.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you haven't noticed, this is completely un-beta'd because I have no self control or patience so feel free to yell at me if there's any problem.
> 
> If you have any questions or comments, hit me up here or on sarthefirst.tumblr.com (All and any comments are appreciated!)


End file.
